The house is there, it's yours, and it isn't doing anything. You drop by now and then to air it, you pay the bills and you keep putting it off. Someone told you to let it, someone else told you to sell it, and you have no figures to base a decision on.
Call us. In ten minutes we'll tell you whether a meeting is worth it.
Your father or mother has moved into care, or has passed away. The house has stayed as it was. You go there now and then, open the windows, and each time you put it off.
What holds you back isn't the paperwork. It's that this isn't just any property. That's normal, and you don't owe anyone an explanation.
But one thing needs saying. A house left closed up doesn't stay as it is. Heating, plumbing and wiring left unused break down, damp sets in, and a leak nobody notices turns into a major repair. Deciding doesn't mean selling: it means knowing what each option costs, including keeping it.
The house by the sea or in the country, bought when the children were small. Now you spend two weeks there in August, and for the rest of the year it's closed up.
The maths is simple: you pay taxes, utilities, upkeep and sometimes condominium fees to use it for two weeks a year. Meanwhile the house wears out, and the maintenance you put off now, you pay for all at once when you sell.
Here the options depend on where the house is. In a holiday area, it can earn money in the months you're not using it. Where there's no such demand, the real choice is between keeping it and selling it, and it should be made with the figures in front of you.
The children have left home, or you're on your own now. The house hasn't changed, but it's now twice the size you need. You heat rooms you never use and pay charges on square metres you don't need.
The question here isn't how to make the house pay. It's whether it's still the right house for you.
There are two options almost nobody spells out. The first is to split it, where the house allows: create two units, live in one and let the other. The second is to sell it and buy something smaller in the same area, keeping the difference.
This is a simplified, hypothetical example, not a real case.
Take an empty 90-square-metre flat that isn't your main home.
Adding up ILIA, condominium fees, utilities kept connected and insurance, a flat like this costs around 2,000 euros a year. Over three years that's about 6,000 euros out of your pocket, and the house hasn't earned a thing.
An empty house isn't standing still. It's a cost that keeps running on its own.
Then there's the rent the house didn't earn. We don't put a number on it here, because rent depends on the size of the house and where it is. We'll work out yours once we've seen the house.
Finally there's deterioration. It isn't a yearly cost: it lands all at once when the house goes back on the market.
This is a simplified example. The council's tax rate, the condominium fees and any major works already approved all change it. We can tell you how this applies to your house once we've seen it.
There are six. None is right every time: what matters is knowing when each one makes sense.
It makes sense when the house is ready to live in, you don't need the capital and you want an income you can count on. It earns less than a short-term rental and takes far less of your time. It means choosing your tenant carefully and allowing for a few empty months between one tenancy and the next.
Worth considering where there's demand for stays of a few days or a few months. You earn more, but it costs more in time, cleaning and management, and income varies with the season. The full picture, with income, costs and taxes, is on the page about short-term rentals in Trieste. Check the council's and the condominium's rules first.
It's the option you rarely hear suggested, and sometimes it's the one that changes the figures. A large flat can become two separate units, and a house on several floors can become several flats. You're not improving the house: you're changing the kind of tenant you can attract. It requires building work, and the council, the condominium and the technical requirements decide what can be created.
It makes sense when you don't want to manage anything, when you need the capital, or when the house is far from where you live. It settles the matter and removes the risk. Today's market sets the price, and a buyer who has to do work on it will knock the cost off the price. Before you accept the first offer, look at what similar renovated homes have recently sold for in the same area.
This is the option for the house that's too big. You sell the one you have, buy something smaller in the same area and keep the difference. It means two transactions, each with its own taxes and costs, and the risk of a gap between the sale and the purchase. It works when the price gap is wide and you really need a smaller home.
It's a choice, not a postponement, and sometimes it's the right one. It makes sense if you use the house, even a little, and you can afford to wait. It doesn't make sense if it's simply closed up: empty, it costs money every year, and deterioration adds to that. Doing nothing by choice is an option. Doing nothing because you don't know where to start is a cost.
There are six options. Which one suits your house only becomes clear once the figures are worked out.
For your house, the study sets out the six options side by side. We don't tell you “let it” or “sell it”: we show you what each one leaves you with.
You read it. It's yours to keep. You decide whether to go ahead. If you like the way we work, we'll give you a quote for the in-depth study.
And if the answer is that it doesn't stack up, we'll tell you that too. We've done it before.
The Preliminary Feasibility Study is not a formal appraisal, an official valuation, an architectural design, a building quote or an estate agency agreement. We don't ask for exclusivity and you don't sign anything.
A flat for sale became three rooms to let, and an almost doubled yield.
A three-bedroom flat near the university. The owner wanted to sell a flat in need of renovation, laid out for a family. We drew up a financial plan to turn it into three rooms let to students. The rental yield would rise from 6% to 10%, with no extra work for the landlord. We presented the flat as an investment to buyers willing to renovate it. It sold for 5% above the asking price.
The house is the same. What changed is what it could earn.
It depends on three things: what the local council allows, what the condominium rules say, and whether the flat meets the technical requirements for two separate units, meaning separate entrances, wiring and plumbing, and natural light and ventilation in every bedroom. Where it can be done, two smaller units appeal to more people than one large one. The check is done on the documents, before you pay for a design. If you'd like to know whether your flat could be split, call us.
For a 90-square-metre flat, between ILIA, condominium fees, utilities kept connected and insurance, it comes to around 2,000 euros a year. That's a ballpark figure: the council sets the tax rate and condominium fees vary from one building to the next. On top of that comes the rent the house isn't earning.
It depends on how long the season lasts in that area and how many other homes are doing the same. Where there's demand, the house can earn money in the months you're not using it, allowing for management, cleaning and local rules. Where there isn't, the realistic options are a long-term let or a sale.
It's worth it when there's a wide price gap between the two homes and you really need the new one. You have to allow for two transactions, each with its own taxes and costs, and the time between the sale and the purchase. The alternative is to split the house you already have, if the council and the condominium allow it. If you'd like the figures, call us.
Yes. The Preliminary Feasibility Study is free, with no conditions and no commitment. If you then want an in-depth study, we'll give you a quote and you decide. If we see no realistic option at all, we won't write the document: we'll tell you on the phone and won't waste your time. The preliminary study also helps us decide whether it makes sense to work together. We only get paid later, and only if you decide to go ahead. You receive the quote together with the first document, before you decide anything.
No. We don't handle property sales and we earn no commission when your property is sold. We look at the property, work out what it costs and what it could earn, and tell you in writing what can be done with it and who you'd need to do it. Then we work alongside the professionals involved: surveyors, architects, valuers, accountants and, where needed, estate agents.
We answer the phone ourselves. If we're out on a site visit, we'll call you back the same day.
Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm Italian time. Outside those hours, message us on WhatsApp and we'll call you back the next working day.
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